PAINTS, ENAMELS,

DISTEMPER AND
VARNISHES
INTRODUCTION
 Paints, distempers and varnishes, are the liquid
materials which are applied to the surfaces of
woodwork, metalwork, and concrete work etc. to
give final finish and to provide protective layer
against the attacking agencies such as-fungi and
bacteria, and other weathering effects such as
corrosion, shrinking & swelling of wood due to
change in moisture.

Note:
Paints are used for coating
of woods and metals both.
 Varnishes are mainly
used for woodworks.
 Distempers are applied
over the concrete or
cement plastered
surfaces.
PAINTS

Objectives of painting:

1. To protect the painted surfaces against

deterioration caused by weathering actions of
atmosphere and other destructive agencies.
2. To provide aesthetic appearance to the
surfaces.
3. To prevent ingress of moisture in
plastered walls and RCC structures.
4. To provide smooth surface for easy
cleaning.
5. To fulfill these objectives a good paints should have
following characteristics.
Characteristics of an ideal paints:
1. High spread capacity
So that it can be applied in uniform thin film and the
maximum area to be painted can be covered with the
minimum quantity of paint.
2. Good workability
The paint should maintain its consistency while applying
to the surfaces and it should dry in reasonable time
(i.e., not too early, such as during application and no too
late, such as even after the application).
Characteristics of an ideal paints:
3. Durability against the weathering actions.
4. It should not be hazardous and toxic for human.
5. Elasticity - to absorb the thermal expansion and
contraction of the surface to be painted.
6. The painted surface should not show
cracks after drying.
7. It should be economical and cheaper
Types of Paints
1. Aluminium paints:
 Finely grounded aluminium powder is used as base.
 Varnish (either spirit or oil varnish) is used as vehicle.
 Aluminium paints - are good heat reflector, resistant
to acid fumes, have very high spreading capacity (>
200 m2/ltr).
 Surfaces painted with aluminium paints
are visible even in the darkness.
 Aluminium paints are used for priming coat on new
woodwork.
 Types of Paints
2. Asbestos paints:

The main constituent is fibrous asbestos.

It prevents leakage of metal roofs and dampness on
basement walls.
It is also known as fire proof paint.
Types of Paints
3. Bituminous paints
 Finely grounded asphalt bitumen is used as base.
 Mineral spirit or Naphtha is used as vehicle.
 Usually these paints are Black in color, but we can
use pigments to change the color.
 Bituminous paints are resistant to alkalis and prevents
moisture to ingress concrete or plastered walls.
 It is also used to paint under water iron works.
 It has poor resistance to sunlight and start
deteriorating when exposed
 Types of Paints
4. Cellulose paints:
 Cellulose paints are also known as ‘Lacquers’.
 Cellulose derivatives, resins, celluloid sheets are
dispersed into dilutants such as petroleum.
 Castor oil is also used to provide toughness,
adhesion and smoothness to paints film.
 Cellulose paints are costlier, hence used for
painting of cars, aeroplanes , ships etc.
 Cellulose paints are unaffected by weathering
actions.
 Types of Paints
5. Cement based paints:
 White or colored portland cement (up to 70%) is
used as base.
 Water is used as thinner.
 Cement-paints imparts good water-proofing hence
generally used on exterior surfaces of building.
 Cement paints are mixed with boiled linseed oil
to impart toughness, when these paints are used
for painting corrugated iron
sheets.
 For better strength and
durability, curing should be
done properly.
 Snowcem, snowcrete are
example of waterproof cement paint
 Types of Paints
6. Rubber based paints:
 Chlorinated rubber (rubber treated with
chlorine gas) is used as base and dissolved
into a suitable solvent.
 Rubber paints have good resistance against,
acid and alkali, dampness and other
weathering actions.
 These paints can be applied on cement as
well as lime plastered surfaces.
 Types of Paints
7. Plastic paints:
 Plastics is used as base material and water is
used as thinner.
 Plastic paints have high spreading capacity and
give neat decorative aesthetic appearance to
surfaces.
 Plastic paints are costlier.
Types of Paints
8. Emulsion paints:
 In these paints rubber like resins, polystyrene, and
polyvinyl acetate are dispersed in water to form
emulsion.
 Sometimes oil is also used as vehicle.
 When water is used as vehicle, sodium or ammonium
soaps are used as emulsifier and for oil, metallic soaps
of magnesium & zinc are used.
 These paints dry very early (within 2 hours of
application).
 Suitable for porous and wet surfaces.
 Types of Paints

9. Casein paints:

 In these paints protein extracted from milk

based products is mixed with base like
lithophone.

 Used for painting of interior walls & ceilings.

 Types of Paints
10. Anti corrosive paints
 Linseed oil is used vehicle.
 Sublimed blue lead, zinc oxide, iron oxide and
zinc chromate are used as pigments.
 These paints provide good resistance against
corrosion caused by acid fumes and adverse
weather conditions.
 Types of Paints
11. Oil paints:
 In oil paints metal oxides such as lead oxide,
iron oxide etc are used as base.
 Oils like linseed oil, Tung oil, etc are used as
vehicle.
 Oil paints are cheap, easy to apply and provide
good opaque and low gloss finish.
 Oil paints are applied in THREE coats which are
named as – ‘Prime coat’, ‘Undercoat’ and
‘Finishing coat’.
 Oil paints should not be applied during damp
and humid weather, as it may cause poor
adhesion.
Composition of oil Paints
An oil paint essentially consists of the following
ingredients–
1. A base
2. A vehicle
3. A pigment
4. A solvent
5. A drier
6. Fillers
1. Base
 In oil paints, metallic oxides are generally used as base.
 It is the principal components of an oil paint and serves
the following functions :
(i) It imparts opacity to paint and obscure the surface to
be painted.
(ii) It imparts binding property to the paint which helps to
prevent shrinkage cracks on drying.
(iii) It imparts durability to the paint .
 Example of the most commonly used bases and
their suitability is mentioned in the table given
below
(a) White lead
 Used in lead paints and it is most widely used base.
 Suitable for woodwork.
 Not good for iron surfaces due to poor resistance to
corrosion.
 Not good for delicate works because discoloration
occurs when exposed to atmosphere.
(b) Red lead
 It is also used as base in lead paints.
 Suitable for the iron as well as wood surfaces for
priming coat.
 It is used as drier also.
 (c) Oxide of iron
 Used as base in iron paints.
 Imparts yellowish brown to black tint in paints.
 Suitable for iron surface as it provides good resistance
against corrosion.
(d) Oxide of zinc or zinc white
 It forms base of all zinc paints.
 It does not get discolored when exposed to sulfur vapors.
 It is lesser bulky hence required in more quantity, hence
costlier.
(e) Lithophone
 It is the mixture of baryte and zinc sulphide and have
similar appearance as that of zinc oxide.
 It is cheaper than oxide of zinc.
 It is suitable for interior work of inferior nature as it
changes color when exposed to daylight.
2. Vehicle
 It is also known as ‘Binder’ or ‘Carrier’.
 In oil paints, different type of oil such as linseed oil,
Poppy oil, Tung oil etc. are used as vehicles.
 Vehicles have the following functions:
(i) It holds the other components of paints in
suspension and impart spreading capacity to paint.
(ii) It imparts durability and toughness to the paint
film.
(iii) It gives gloss and weathering resistance to the
painted surface.
Commonly used vehicles in oil paint are:
1) Linseed oil
 Most commonly used vehicle.
 Can be used in raw form for delicate interior work.
 For exterior surfaces used after boiling and mixing with
driers such as Red lead.
 Linseed oil paints are flexible and not water proof.
2) Tung oil
 It is better in quality and costlier than linseed oil.
 It is used in paints of superior quality such as
waterproof paints.
3) Poppy oil
 Used to prepare paints of delicate colors as it retains
color for longer time.
 It dries slowly.
4) Nut oil
 Used for ordinary work as it is less durable.
 It dries rapidly.
3. Pigments
 Pigments are coloring agents.
 These are used when, it is desired to have a different
color than the base of paint.
 Apart from giving color, pigments impart the following
properties to the paint:
(i) It helps to hide imperfections of paint.
(ii) It improves the impermeability of paint and thereby
increase the weathering resistance.
(iii) It protects paint films against oxidative effect of UV
rays.
 Most commonly used pigments
 Graphite, Lamp black, Ivory Black – Black
 Indigo, Prussian blue – Blue
 Burnt or Raw Umber – Brown
 Chrome green, Copper Sulphate – Green
 Red lead – Red
Note: Copper sulphate which is also known as ‘Blue
Vitriol’ has ‘Blue color’ but due to formation of
oxides it gives ‘Green’ color to paints.
The concentration of pigment by volume is expressed as
a percentage of the total volume of non-volatile
constituents of the paint.
It is expressed as pigment volume concentration number
(P.V.C.N.) or simply Pigment Volume Concentration
 4. Solvents
 These are also known as ‘Thinners’.
 Thinners are used for the following purposes
(i) To make the paint of workable consistency so that
it can spread easily.
(ii) To allow paints to penetrate the porous surfaces.
 Commonly used thinners are – Petroleum, Sprit,
Naphtha, Turpentine oil.
 Turpentine oil is extensively used for oil paints.
5. Driers
 Driers are the chemicals added to the paint to
accelerate the drying of paint.
 Driers helps in oxidation, polymerisation and
condensation of vehicle used in paint due to which
drying of paint occurs.
 Commonly used driers are – litharge (PbO), Red lead
(Pb3O4) Manganese dioxide (MnO2) etc.
6. Fillers
 These are also known as – ‘Inert Extenders’
or ‘Adulterants’.
 The purpose of using fillers is–
(i) To reduce overall cost.
(ii) To reduce the weight of paint
(iii) To reduce cracking of dried paint.
(iv) To impart durability.
 Barium sulphate, calcium carbonate,
Magnesium silicate and silica are examples
of fillers.
 Barium sulphate is the best filler (adulterant).
DEFECTS IN PAINTING
Following are the usual defects found in the painting work

1. Blistering
 It occurs in the form of swelling of paint film due to
localised loss of adhesion between two coats or between
the primer or the surface.
 It is caused by trapped water vapours, or due to excess oil.
 When caused by excess oil it is termed as ‘Blistering’ &
when caused by moisture it is termed as ‘Peeling’.
DEFECTS IN PAINTING
2. Bloom

 It is identified as the formation of dull patches on the

painted surface .

 It is caused either due to defect in quality of paint or

due to poor ventilation.
3. Fading
 The gradual loss in original color of
paint caused by sunlight.

4. Flaking
 Paint film get detached off the
surface.
 It occurs due to poor adhesion
between paint film and painted
surface.

5. Flashing
 It appears in the form of Glossy
patches on the painted surface.
 It is caused by poor workmanship,
use of cheap paints.
6. Grinning
 Due to poor opacity of final coat, if the background is
visible through the paint film, such defect is called
grinning.

7. Running or sagging
 If the surface to be painted is too smooth then paint
fails to make proper bond with the surface and flow
back, leaving behind uncovered surface.
 To prevent this defect surface to be painted should be
rubbed with sand paper.
8. Saponification
 It occurs due to presence of alkalis.
 White patches are formed at
painted surface.

9. Wrinkling
 It occurs when the thickness of paint film is more or due to excess
of oil.
 Due to greater thickness unequal drying of exterior and interior take
place.
 VARNISH
 Varnish is a homogenous solution of resins in oil,
alcohol or turpentine.
 After the application of varnish on surface, the oil dries
and other volatile solvents evaporates leaving behind
a solid, transparent and glossy layer of resin on the
surface.
 Type of solvent used, depends
upon the type of resin used for
different types of resin
suitable solvents are given below:

Resin Solvent
Amber, Copal, gum Boiled linseed oil
Mastic, Gum dammar Turpentine
Lac, Shellac Methylated spirit
Raw copal and other cheap Wood naphtha
resins
 TYPES OF VARNISH
1. Oil varnish
 Linseed oil is used as solvent.
 Hard resins such as Amber and copal are mixed with
linseed oil.
 To adjust the consistency turpentine oil can be used.
 Drying of oil varnishes occurs slowly and take almost
24 hours to dry.
 Since, oil varnishes provide hardest and most
durable surfaces, hence it is used for exterior
surfaces.
TYPES OF VARNISH
2. Spirit Varnishes
 Resins of softer variely such as lac or shellac
are
 mixed in Methylated spirit.
 Spirit varnishes dry very quickly.
 Durability is low, hence used for furnitures
TYPES OF VARNISH
3. Turpentine varnishes
 Turpentine oil is used as solvent and soft variely of
resins such as gum dammer and mastic are used.
 These varnishes have low durability, lighter color.
 However turpentine varnishes dry quickly.

4. Water varnish
 Hot water as solvent and shellac is used as resin.
 Enough quantity of ammonia, or potash or soda is
added to facilitate the dissolving of shellac.
 These varnishes are used for varnishing of maps and
pictures.
 DISTEMPER
 Distempers are cheap alternative of paints.
 It is composed of a base, a carrier and pigment for
required color.

 For distempers
Base – Whiting chalk
Carrier – Water

 Oil bound distempers are also available in market. In

this type of distempers oil is so treated that it can be
mixed with water at the time of application.
 For applying distemper on surface it is mixed with
water. Normally 500 to 700 mL of water is required for
1 kg of distemper.
ENAMEL
 These are special type of paints, used for glossy
surface finish.
 In enamels paints Zinc oxide is used as base, and
instead of oil, varnish is used as carrier(vehicle).
 Enamel paints dry very quickly and provide a very
hard and glossy surface.
 It is waterproof and has good resistance to acid and
alkalis.
 It is generally used for woodworks.
Thank You!